MBB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

SUMMIT!!!!! · February 11, 2007, 05:18:06 PM

news can all agree to enjoy:
http://www.startribune.com/509/story/995261.html

SUMMIT!!!!! · February 11, 2007, 05:26:14 PM

I'd say the new poll wil be:
1. UWSP
2. Amherst (the best in the country, SB #1)
3.Va Weslyan
4. Wooster
5. UST
6. Wittenberg
7. Hope

miacwatchmen · February 11, 2007, 07:48:53 PM

There is no way Bethel wins the tourney championship. They will have to play AT UST more than likely. They lost by 22 just two weeks ago there. It would be quiet a feat if BET beat SJU and UST on the road to win the title but I just don't see it happening. SJU maybe but no chance at UST.

sju4life · February 11, 2007, 09:19:53 PM

cmon....SJU lose at home?? they are 10-1 and average winning by 14 points per game at home. I do not think they will lose at home in the playoffs!!!

miacwatchmen · February 11, 2007, 10:54:04 PM

Quote from: sju4life on February 11, 2007, 09:19:53 PM
cmon....SJU lose at home?? they are 10-1 and average winning by 14 points per game at home. I do not think they will lose at home in the playoffs!!!

Yeah I didn't think they would go down and lay an egg at SMU or at Bethel either. I'm just saying stuff happenes.

TommieHoops4Life · February 11, 2007, 11:52:05 PM

Great atmosphere Saturday at West Gym for Carleton/Olaf. The Knights fans were hilarious- every time Matt Christensen touched the ball, he got a "Not your brother!" chant. When Bain got it, he heard a "Ro-Gaine!" call.

It was really a tail of two halves. Olaf controlled much of the first half and scored inside, then used that to hit some outside shots and have a 35-29 lead at the break. The Knights woke up in the second half and hit a ton of big shots. Olaf went completely away from what made them successful in the opening 20 mins. Phillips and Johnson were on fire, scoring 21 each. As CM stated, he was very patient in the post, and they made it a point to get it inside to him on almost every possession in the second half. Tommy Drake also hit some big shots in the second half, mainly early to get the Knights tied back up. I also credit Carleton's D in the second half, they forced the Oles into a lot of tough and quick low-percentage shots. I think Olaf gets in as Carleton cemented a playoff spot with the win, but the title is still UST's to lose at this point with the big rematch against SJU at Schoenecker. I might have to make the trip for that one.

BETHEL34 · February 12, 2007, 01:11:25 AM

MiacWatchmen - How can you say that Bethel CAN'T win the championship? You said there is no way BU can win at STU...STU plays out of their minds in the first half shooting 70 percent from the floor and Bethel can't hit the broad side of a barn and shoots 28 percent. In the second half they cut the lead to 12 at one point then end up losing by 22. What changed in the second half??? Bethel started making shots. They didn't play that much better defense, St Thomas still shot mid 50's percent in the second half, and scored almost the same amount, Bethel just started making shots. Bethel can win at STU if they shoot around or above 50% for the game. It will have to be a shootout, but they can win at STU. They just need to play two good half's and they can win. 2 half's like the socond one in the last game...they win. Pretty bold statement to say they have NO CHANCE on winning at STU.

miacwatchmen · February 12, 2007, 12:52:35 PM

Quote from: BETHEL34 on February 12, 2007, 01:11:25 AM
MiacWatchmen - How can you say that Bethel CAN'T win the championship? You said there is no way BU can win at STU...STU plays out of their minds in the first half shooting 70 percent from the floor and Bethel can't hit the broad side of a barn and shoots 28 percent. In the second half they cut the lead to 12 at one point then end up losing by 22. What changed in the second half??? Bethel started making shots. They didn't play that much better defense, St Thomas still shot mid 50's percent in the second half, and scored almost the same amount, Bethel just started making shots. Bethel can win at STU if they shoot around or above 50% for the game. It will have to be a shootout, but they can win at STU. They just need to play two good half's and they can win. 2 half's like the socond one in the last game...they win. Pretty bold statement to say they have NO CHANCE on winning at STU.

I didn't say they CAN'T i just said they won't.

Drake Palmer · February 12, 2007, 02:00:45 PM

Man, slow day on the board! So in an attempt to stoke the waning, posting embers of our fireplace...

Let me throw this out to PI, Wonka or any others that care to chime in. Certain GAC faithful have done more than their share of playa hating on UST's Mike Keating this year & last. And I'll admit, I'm moving from being mildly puzzled, to a state of concern over his recent performances. The Augsburg game I considered an aberration, the Gustie game caused me to raise my eyebrows, but his last game against the last place, 3-15 Cobbs – "what the heck is going on?" 1-8 from the field for 4 pts, 7 boards, 4 assists, 2 TOs & 1 steal. That's the kind of stat line you'd expect to see from an emerging player like a Lonnie Robinson, not the type of performance you would expect to see from a player of his caliber. Let's hope he & the Toms ratchet it up as the regular season winds down, & a potential run in the playoffs begin.

But now let's turn our focus & take a closer look at the team from St. Peter - what the heck's going on with the Gusties & GAC's Trevor Wittwer? Willy might have been right when he referred to them as "manic-depressive." And Wittwer, 0-1 against the Pipes?!? In spite of his seeming foul trouble against Hamline the other day, I'm told he wasn't even looking for his shot. In two statistical categories that you would look for him -- scoring & rebounding he's not in the top 10 in the league in either category. He's 14th in scoring at 14.3 ppg & 14th in rebounding at 5.6 Rpg. I really expected this would be his breakout season when he would emerge as one of the superstars in the league. The kid has got all kinds of talent & I was looking forward to the possible emergence of Espo Jr .

I would suggest his play has been overshadowed by the outstanding performance of fellow Jr., Brady Brink up at SJU this season. So now I'm beginning to wonder if Wittwer will end up falling into the category that I've sorta slotted Bethel's Charles Meadwocroft? They are both tremendously talented players who seem to be content playing an ensemble role, rather than taking the occasional solo & continual leadership position on their teams.

TommieHoops4Life · February 12, 2007, 02:23:04 PM

B34,

With all due respect, the Royals aren't going to win the MIAC championship. If/when they play at UST again, Bethel would have to play virtually perfect basketball and get a little help from the Tommies to have any chance at all. The Tommies have all-americans in Ike and Schnettler, and although he hasn't played like it lately, potentially one in Keating. I think Keating is one of those players that if he can hit a couple shots early, good luck stopping him, but if he struggles, you might forget he's on the floor. Just when it looks like he's had a bad game from the stats, he'll bury you with a clutch shot in a pressure situation. He'll get out of his funk and start coming up huge in the playoffs.

Willy Wonka · February 12, 2007, 02:42:46 PM

If GAC and SMU can beat can beat UST and SJU, Bethel can't be so easily discounted. Both were clearly on the road, but it shows that it IS possible, if unlikely. MVP Keating showing his true colors will make it easier.

DP - I've been critical of Wittwer's offensive game in the past, but Saturday's game doesn't fall into one I'll...how did you say...pick nits over. He played 16 minutes after picking up some ticky-tack fouls. However, I'll grant you that his absence likely cost the Gusties a bad loss. From watching a number of games, I'm comfortable calling him the leader of the team - that's not something easily overcome.

He had 9 points and 3 rebounds in 16 minutes. That is, more or less, a half in a typical game. I'd wager the Hamline defense had a good deal to do with his performance as well. #3 literally alternated between head locks, bear hugs and tripping every time Wittwer tried to move. When he finally started getting called for his actions, #3 couldn't believe the refs would call such things and had to be restrained by teammates from getting a T.

PI was calling him a thug who brought nothing to the table on either end of the court as TW nailed free throws...and then he made the game-winning tip.

Freebird · February 12, 2007, 02:44:57 PM

I have great deal of respect for the tommies and think they are a great team. My only question is this:

Is anyone worried that they took double overtime to beat AUGSBURG, lost to GAC in OT, and used a flawless 1st half to beat Bethel? It doesn't seem like this team has played well on the road of late and that could be there down fall when the NCAA tournament starts.

Nites · February 12, 2007, 02:49:58 PM

Quote from: Drake Palmer on February 12, 2007, 02:00:45 PM
Man, slow day on the board! So in an attempt to stoke the waning, posting embers of our fireplace...

But now let's turn our focus & take a closer look at the team from St. Peter - what the heck's going on with the Gusties & GAC's Trevor Wittwer? Willy might have been right when he referred to them as "manic-depressive." And Wittwer, 0-1 against the Pipes?!? In spite of his seeming foul trouble against Hamline the other day, I'm told he wasn't even looking for his shot. In two statistical categories that you would look for him -- scoring & rebounding he's not in the top 10 in the league in either category. He's 14th in scoring at 14.3 ppg & 14th in rebounding at 5.6 Rpg. I really expected this would be his breakout season when he would emerge as one of the superstars in the league. The kid has got all kinds of talent & I was looking forward to the possible emergence of Espo Jr .

I would suggest his play has been overshadowed by the outstanding performance of fellow Jr., Brady Brink up at SJU this season. So now I'm beginning to wonder if Wittwer will end up falling into the category that I've sorta slotted Bethel's Charles Meadwocroft? They are both tremendously talented players who seem to be content playing an ensemble role, rather than taking the occasional solo & continual leadership position on their teams.

Drake,

I thought that Wittwer was going to be one of the 5 best players in the league this year, but his performance has been nowhere near that level. What struck me as odd when I was looking at his stats last week is that he is only averaging 26.3 minutes of PT per game, which is only 1.2 minutes above his average last year when he was the league's best 6th man. That's not what you would expect in the case of the player who is supposed to be the "go to" guy. Wittwer is actually only third on the Gusties (behind Sowden and Olson) in PT per game. I assume he is always on the floor at crunch time? Do you have any insight into how Hanson doles out minutes? With the way the Gusties have struggled this year, I am surprised that Hanson doesn't have his best athlete on the floor more than 26 minutes per game.

abominable_snowman · February 12, 2007, 03:16:16 PM

-in general- about the keating's wittwers and meadowcrofts of the world. us as spectators and posters can pick apart their game from every perspective.

as a coach and a player you have to worry about what their presence does on the court. this is one of those things that is hard to find in the stat books. to put it another way, just because keting has had a rough stretch of games, if I am any other coach in the miac, I am still going to put one of my best defenders on him.

-on the tommies- let me begin with a declaration. i fully support the cats, and believe they will be conference champs and make a good ncaa run. However, i am an open-minded individual and am willing to ask the question are the tommies feeling fatigued? their games have been longer and closer. the minutes played by the three-headed monster are substansial. Dwyer went down with an injury. and with not much available for life support(bench) the tommies may really need to dig deep or find some sort of adrenaline shot to get them through the season.

my thouhgt is that Fritz has been around long enough to know how to handle late season struggles, and that the tommies will be running on all cylinders as the post season approaches.

Freebird · February 12, 2007, 03:17:13 PM

Quote from: TommieHoops4Life on February 12, 2007, 02:23:04 PM
B34,

With all due respect, the Royals aren't going to win the MIAC championship. If/when they play at UST again, Bethel would have to play virtually perfect basketball and get a little help from the Tommies to have any chance at all. The Tommies have all-americans in Ike and Schnettler, and although he hasn't played like it lately, potentially one in Keating. I think Keating is one of those players that if he can hit a couple shots early, good luck stopping him, but if he struggles, you might forget he's on the floor. Just when it looks like he's had a bad game from the stats, he'll bury you with a clutch shot in a pressure situation. He'll get out of his funk and start coming up huge in the playoffs.

When was Schnettler named an All-American?